Twitter Rate Limit Exceeded: How to Fix It & What It Means

Few things stop a Twitter session as abruptly as the “Rate Limit Exceeded” error. It turns a scroll into a dead end, leaving you waiting for permission to see more. Since July 2023, unverified accounts are capped at 600 posts per day, a limit that reshaped how millions use the platform daily, according to Reuters (news agency). This guide walks through what the limit means, how to work around it, and what fixes actually work.

Unverified daily view limit: 600 posts ·
Verified daily view limit: 6,000 posts ·
Rate limit reset period: 24 hours (since July 2023) ·
Old API rate limit: 100 requests per hour ·
Policy change date: July 1, 2023

Six policy limits, one pattern: X’s rate structure now treats daily reading and API requests as separate thresholds, with different reset windows.

How do I get rid of rate limit exceeded on Twitter?

If you’re staring at the “Rate Limit Exceeded” message, here are five concrete steps to try, ordered by likelihood of success.

1. Wait for the limit to reset

   • Rate limits for daily view caps reset every 24 hours (Reuters).
   • API rate limits typically reset after one hour (X Developer Platform).
   • Temporary rate limits from excessive activity may reset in 15 minutes to 1 hour (Unfollr Blog).

   The implication: if you hit a reading limit early in the day, you’ll be locked out of new tweets until the next day. For API rate limits, a shorter wait often works.

2. Log out of third-party apps

   • Third-party apps consume API calls even when you’re not actively using them (X Help).
   • Disconnect unused apps from Settings > Security and apps > Connected apps (X Help).
   • If you use multiple accounts, disconnect apps from all to stay within the limit.

   What this means: a single third-party client can burn through your API quota, triggering the error even when you’re only browsing the web.

3. Clear cache and cookies

   • Stale authentication tokens can trigger rate-limit false positives (X Help).
   • Clearing browser cache removes corrupted session data.
   • For mobile apps, clear the app cache in device settings.

   The catch: this mostly helps when the error appears due to a misaligned session, not when you’ve genuinely hit the daily cap.

4. Switch to a different network

   • Rate limits can be tied to public Wi-Fi IP addresses (TwitterAPI.io).
   • Switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data (or vice versa) may bypass an IP-level limit.
   • Be aware that using a VPN might also change your apparent IP address.

   Why this matters: if multiple people in an office share the same public IP, everyone’s activity counts toward the same rate limit.

5. Upgrade to X Premium (Twitter Blue)

   • Verified accounts have a daily view limit of 6,000 posts, 10x the unverified cap (X Help).
   • X Premium costs $8/month (web) or $11/month (iOS/Android) as of 2024.
   • Premium subscribers also get priority in rate-limit queues.

   The trade-off: paying $8–$11 per month effectively removes the viewing cap, but the API rate limits remain the same for developer use.

How long until the rate limit goes away on Twitter?

Duration depends on the type of limit you’ve hit. Here’s the breakdown.

• Unverified reading limit: resets every 24 hours (Reuters).
• Verified reading limit: 6,000 posts per day, same reset cycle (X Help).
• API rate limit (hourly): resets after one hour from the first request (X Developer Platform).
• Action limits (follows, likes): can last from 15 minutes to 24 hours depending on severity (Unfollr Blog).

The pattern: reading limits are the longest (24 hours), while API and action limits are shorter but can escalate if you keep hitting them.

What causes a rate limit to be exceeded?

• Automated scraping tools: Bots that pull large volumes of data trigger API rate limits (X Developer Platform).
• Excessive API calls from apps: Third-party apps that don’t respect rate limits can drain your daily allowance (X Help).
• Multiple accounts logged in: Each logged-in session counts toward the same IP-based cap.
• The July 2023 policy change: X introduced across-the-board view limits to combat data scraping (Reuters).
• Follower-to-following ratio limits: After following 5,000 users, actions may be restricted (TweetDelete — note this is lower-confidence third-party advice).

What to watch: the cause is almost always either a daily reading cap or an API quota exhaustion. Check the error message context: if it appears on the web without using an API client, it’s the reading limit.

What is rate limiting?

Rate limiting is a technical control that restricts how many requests a user or application can make to a server within a given time window.

• It prevents server overload and ensures fair access for all users (X Developer Platform).
• X measures rate limits in posts viewed per day for reading, and API calls per 15-minute window for developer endpoints (TwitterAPI.io).
• Rate limiting can be based on IP address, account, or both (X Help).

Why this matters: rate limiting is a feature, not a bug. Without it, the platform would be unusable under heavy bot traffic. But the July 2023 changes made it a daily reality for every user.

What does rate limit exceeded mean on Twitter?

The error message indicates you’ve reached one of X’s usage caps. It is not a suspension and your account remains active.

• On the web, it appears as a gray “Rate Limit Exceeded” banner that prevents loading new tweets (Reuters).
• In the API, it returns an HTTP 429 error with a Retry-After header (X Developer Platform).
• It does not mean your account is suspended or that you’ve violated terms of service (X Help).

The implication: you can still use direct messages and post (unless you’ve hit the posting limit of 50 original tweets per day for unverified accounts), but you cannot see others’ content until the reset.

Verified accounts can now read 6,000 posts per day, unverified accounts 600 posts per day.

— Reuters (July 3, 2023)

If you use up your 100 API calls in the hour then you will see the ‘rate limit exceeded’ message.

— Twitter Blog / X Blog (2008)

For regular unverified readers on X in 2025, the choice is clear: either accept the 600-post daily ceiling and wait 24 hours when you hit it, or pay $8–$11 per month for X Premium to raise that cap to 6,000. The alternative — relying on third-party apps or workarounds — carries its own risk of additional rate limits and account restrictions.

Related reading: Twitter Rate Limit Exceeded – Unfollr Guide · Twitter Rate Limit Exceeded – TwitterAPI.io Blog

Frequently asked questions